Back To School Shopping Early?

They say the early bird gets the worm- but how early does he have to be?

Back-to-school is going the way of Christmas, as retailers such as Lands' End are beginning to push next year's school necessities before many children have closed the book on the current semester.

The brand's email advertisement for school uniforms is the latest example of retailers inching their promotions ever earlier, this time in an effort to capture the attention of shoppers-who more and more are shifting their back-to-school purchasing as late as December.

"What you're seeing is retailers are going to do what they can to try to get consumers into the stores to shop, but the fact of the matter is they might not have much luck," said Britt Beemer, chairman of America's Research Group.

According to Beemer's firm, over the past few back-to-school seasons, a growing number of parents have said they would only buy what their kids absolutely needed before they started the new school year. They then shifted the rest of their purchasing to the holiday season, when they knew they can get the best deals, Beemer said.